WIP Wednesday - January 31

I just love WIP Wednesday -- it makes me create an appointment to spend some quality time in my sewing room. I almost couldn't wait to get home from work tonight, so I could come home to sew. I had a bunch of 9-patches strip pieced and just sitting at the sewing table just begging to be sewn. I also fused stars to the alternating blocks.

After just a few short hours, I have this to show for my quality time.


I started off going to make this quilt in a 6X8 layout, but it just seemed too small. So I'm back to cutting more alternating star blocks and more 9-patches to make it a little bigger. I must say that I'm pretty pleased with my progress so far.


All of this fabric was found in my stash of homespuns and it hasn't even made a dent in the pile. I can see a bunch of homespun quilts in my future.

It feels so good to be back sewing again and looking forward to spending more time in my sewing room.

My package of Heather Bailey fabric came from Hancocks-Paducah today that I ordered to make the Amy Butler Swing Purse. This is going to be my last fabric purchase for a while. I really need to attack this stash and I'm going to challenge myself to not buy any fabric until I use up some of what I have. OK, there, I've said it -- now if I can just hold off until the Lancaster Quilt Show in April.

No pictures of Bailey tonight, he's already in bed asleep. I'm going to pick up the pieces of quilt that are lying on the floor, maybe sew a few more 9-patches and head off to bed myself.

Back in the Saddle Again

We finally went out to celebrate Bob's 30th birthday last night at a cute little Italian restaurant and had a wonderful time - good food and good company and a glass of wine - what's not to love ?

Of course, Bailey wasn't too happy that he couldn't join us and was really disappointed when he didn't get a doggy bag.

I very rarely post this kind of stuff, but every once in a while, I stumble across something that totally astounds me. That just by answering a few questions, I can get something that sound so much like me, just blows me away. And to think, I thought I chose a Blue Blog because my favorite color is blue - who knew?

Your Blog Should Be Blue

Your blog is a peaceful, calming force in the blogosphere. You tend to avoid conflict - you're more likely to share than rant. From your social causes to cute pet photos, your life is a (mostly) open book.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

After doing a lot (OK - too much) of Blog-Hopping today, I decided that I need to start on something new just to give myself a jump start. So, I decided to knock-off this from Quite-Quilted and start using up some of the bins of homespun plaids. My sewing room is a mess as I have been tearing out this and flinging that trying to find just the right plaids and I couldn't be happier.

I also have been in the mood to work with some of the bright and novelty prints that I have accumulated over the years, and I started this as a Leader/Ender project when doing the 9-patches. The nice part of this is that the star points don't come all the way out to the edges - so there are no cut-off points. This was a freebie pattern from P&B Textiles called Star Fling by Terry Atkinson. Aren't these prints just so cheerful? It's a real stretch for me to work with these colors - but it's been fun. Of course, I still have 14 more blocks to make.

I've also been knitting hats for Newborns In Need when I sit down to watch TV. It's amazing how fast these seem to fly off the needles. Now they all need pom-poms - a chore that I rank right up there with putting the borders on a quilt.

I've had a terrible time with Blogger today trying to upload this post and I've noticed that a lot of comments that I made on blogs today just never showed up.

Weathering the Cold

The weather has been downright cold and snowy. It took winter forever to get here and now I can't wait for it to leave. I'm kinda longing for Spring. One of my favorite things to do for myself is stop by the florist after Mass on Sunday and pick up a bouquet of flowers. Yellow and white daiseys and pink carnations are my absolute favorites. They are just so darned cheerful and they put me in a good mood just sitting at the kitchen table with a nice cuppa tea and one of my coveted Australian craft magazines.Not much is going on on the sewing front. I did order a new pattern "Hey Cupcake" and it arrived today, so maybe to pull myself out of this dreaded slump of working on UFO's, I'm going to start on something new -- in spring-like colors of pink and lime green. I think I even have some of the fabric in my stash to at least get it started.

I have also learned how to use my new digital camera and uploading pictures is so easy. Be prepared for an onslaught of pictures soon.

Hmmmm….Border Phobia

Someone teasingly pointed out in the comments section that I may be suffering from "border phobia" and, you know, that kinda sums it up nicely - since a border can make or break a quilt top.

I have absolutely no trouble just randomly picking fabrics and sewing them together with a ‘devil-may-care’ attitude while piecing together a quilt top, actually it’s quite liberating. But, when it comes to the border, I really struggle. I have an idea in my mind of what I want to do and it usually involves red, white and/or blue -- ho hum, so boring -- so safe. It’s just hard for me to venture outside the box, sometimes. And, then there is all of the math involved when trying to figure out a pieced border (how many HST's do I need if the border is X by X and then don't forget the seam allowances). Can't you just see my eyes glazing over?

If I use some really fun and bright prints, I can usually feel pretty secure about using a black inner border, just to give the eyes a place to rest. WOW, talk about working with a safety net - why do I feel the need to play it so safe?


Check out this top "Happy Scrappy Houses" from which the instructions came from Bonnie's Quiltville site. For me this was really stepping outside the box -- who knew that I had all these great novelty prints and that I would use them all in one quilt top??? I just love that black and turquoise together. I even have a black border fabric picked out that has dots of almost every color of fabric that I used in the top ready to cut and put on. What am I waiting for, you ask? -- I had put this one away when decorating for Christmas. I usually keep my WIP's hanging on the banister in the hallway upstairs so they are a constant reminder that they need work. However, I put everything away when I pulled out the Christmas decorations and now it's like Christmas all over again when I discover these goodies that are just begging to be worked on. Blogging about them is a big help, too. Just by putting these thoughts and photos into the blog is almost as good as walking past them and that they are just begging for me to take another step to finishing them.


On this just past WIP Wednesday, I did the inner mitered border and all of my fears about doing it were well founded. I will NEVER do another mitered border AGAIN. Now, if I could just locate the WOW fabric that I planned to use for said outer border….. this is one project that I will be glad when it is a memory.

I was over looking at Jennifer Chiaverini’s website (http://www.elmcreek.net/) to see when her new book will be coming out and lo and behold….the border around her website is this same blasted quilt with the mitered border that I’m working on. Do you think it’s an omen for me to finish it??? WOW, it sure looks good on her website. I can do this, I must do this, I gonna do it............once I publish this post.

Winter Has Finally Arrived

Here it is the 20th of January and winter has finally arrived –and with a vengeance. Freezing temperatures have finally descended on us along with 40+MPH winds. In my drafty house, it's COLD. However, Bailey has found a nice warm spot to hibernate. Talk about living a dog's life - he sure knows how to be good to himself.

I guess it's an appropriate day to work on my Snowman Thru The Year quilt top. I want to thank everyone who offered me comments on the border; and yes, I am going to do a double border with the inner border being red, to offset that dark blue (which didn't look quite so dark when I picked it out to make the shoo-fly blocks).

I was really enjoying those warmer temperatures that we had in December and early January and was truly grateful that we escaped the weather that the west coast and midwest were suffering with. I knew we would get winter eventually, but it is a little easier to take when it is a gradual easing into the colder temperatures; and not the "smack you in the face" kinda change.

WIP Wednesday - January 17th

Well, here it is again - WIP Wednesday and I am bound and determined to get something "Done" tonight.

I am agonizing over putting the mitered border on the 9-Patch and Hourglass Quilt top, so that I can start the applique. Why am I agonizing? If the mitered border doesn't work out perfectly, the applique will probably cover it -- or I can do a straight border and who else will know besides me -- or now you, too, if you're reading this Blog!!

But, and you knew that was coming, right? I still have a few more things that I can work on. I finally have SnowShoes (the bluework snowman top that I have all emboidered and pieced together with shoo-fly blocks) that can finally get a border -- no mitering there. I think it needs a double border, but I can't decide whether to stop your eyes with red or black. Hmm....black might be too dark against the dark blue. I kinda had my heart set on a snowman print for the outer border, but everything I saw with snowmen just screamed Christmas -- and I don't want this to be a Christmas Quilt. I spent too much time embroidering it and it is, after all, Snowmen Thru the Year. So I want to leave it out until Valentine's Day...or longer.

Or, I can baste this 4-patch with stars that I dug out of the UFO bin. I don't know why it was in the UFO bin because I really like it and it already has a double border sewn on (no, it's not mitered, either.) I usually stall when it comes to adding borders. I'm always unsure of what will look good and I have this habit of always using red and blue. This quilt top was made entirely from my stash, so it is only fitting that I dig through my stash to find something for the backing, even if I have to piece it - so I can call it a true "Stashbuster" quilt.

Sew many decision, sew little time...I'll let you know which one I picked to work on. Maybe by giving myself all of these decisions to make, I'll tackle that mitered border on the 9-Patch and Hourglass quilt after all.

When Did I Turn Into A Such Follower?

I've been reading a lot of different blogs and folks have been cleaning and organizing their sewing spaces, so i followed suit. It's so nice to work in a clean and tidy room. Then folks complained about being in a slump after the holidays, and there I was tagging along, having to force myself to sew in said nice, tidy room. What should have been a pleasure was a chore.

I finally took the "bull by the horns" and started working a project (a WIP) and have been plugging away on the nine-patch and hour glass for the past week. As a matter of fact, I was feeling rather smug that it was going together so well. Then, when I got to the last row, I stalled. I just couldn't bring myself to sew that last row together so that I could move on to the border, even though it was already pinned together and just begging to be sewn.

Tonight, I sewed the last row together, hallelujah! pressed it and laid it out on the floor to admire it and something didn't look quite right. Argh!!!!! Quilter's Dyslexia (Thank you, Patti for that term). Somehow, I had turned 4 rows around and sewed it wrong - 4 rows!. What should have taken 10-15 minutes to sew together and press has taken almost 2 hours to pick out and correct.

I guess I should be grateful that I didn't discover this glaring error after I had sewn on the borders. And, now it is sewn together, wanna see a picture?

Now, I am anxious to start reading about all of those finished quilts that are just flying off the machine. Now, that's a bandwagon I want to jump on.

I also picked up these cute plastic baskets as the drug store today - they are perfect for holding projects and they are stackable.

On the weather front, we are experiencing 60-degree temperatures (in January), but a cold front is getting ready to move in. Thankfully, the rain has moved out, so the cold front will only bring cold weather and not snow.

Gratitudes:

• Finding a mistake while it's still correctable.
• My Clover seam ripper
• Warm weather in January
• Such nice comments left on my Blog that keep me challenging myself, when I sometimes just want to give up.

Today is my Baby's Birthday

I woke up feeling old this morning, my baby turned "30". How can that be? Where did the time go? His birthday brings back memories of childhood days.....and yes, he was an Eagles fan way back then!!

It's natural on your birthday, Son,

to look back and recall

The special happiness you've brought

since you were very small,

And though the years bring changes,

there's one thing they'll never do

And that's to change the loving pride

in every thought of you.

Happy Birthday, baby. And, what a wonderful man and father you have turned out to be. I must have done something right.

Love, Mom

WIP Wednesday

I received an email today that it is WIP (Work in Progress) Wednesday (thanks Deb!).

Since it's a "W" day, I also made a Wal-Mart run at lunchtime and found myself with someone asking to help me in the fabric department -- that's a switch, I usually have to ring the bell like a crazy woman or page someone. I was also amazed at how well stock the fabric department was with spring-y fabric as was the calico wall. However, it doesn't look good for the fabric department at Wal-Mart continuing. This is bad on so many levels.

OK, back to "WIP" Wednesday. I'm still working on the 9-patch and hourglass quilt. I have 8 rows sewn together (128 blocks), so I am half done. This was not an easy feat with a sleeping dog parked in the middle of the top that I'm working on.

Once he wore up, he decided the top was a good place to gnaw on his chewy. It looks like he is staking his claim on this quilt. I guess I should be glad that he appreciates a quilt-making mama, but how does he know exactly the row I want to sew together and park his behind in that spot?

Earlier this week, I went to Hancock's with a friend at lunchtime (all this temptation at lunchtime - yikes) and I was like a kid in a candy store at the bin of fat quarters. Look at these lucious goodies that I picked up. I have no idea what I'm going to do with them, but they are just so spring-like and I'm ready for spring.

I'm beginning to think that "WIP" Wednesday is more Why I Purchase rather than Work in Progress.

Well, I'd better get back to work. Once I get to the half way point on a quilt, I start looking at it with a very critical eye -- not always a good thing -- and I stall, which is why I probably have so many UFO's. I'm going to keep plugging away on this one. I'd like to be adding the borders by next WIP Wednesday -- and I already have the fabric for that...so no need for more shopping.

The Weekend's Here

We are setting a weather record today - 73-degree temperatures in January. I have the windows open, the sun is shining and a beautiful breeze is waifting through the house, airing out the smell of winter.

I want to be outside, but there isn't much I can do outside except enjoy the fresh air and play throw the tennis ball to Bailey, so I'm trying to keep up my sewing momentum by sewing together the 9-patch and hourglass quilt top.

The Supervisor is barking that the mailman is here and looky-looky what I got ............another one of the parcels that I ordered off of the internet while I was in my slump. I may not have felt like sewing, but I sure did some buying. The Fat Quarter Shop has these neat charm square packets, so I ordered these :

and since I needed a quick 'fix' to do something with these cute little charm packs....I also ordered this:

I think The Fat Quarter Shop was just what I needed to get out of my slump and I think we are going to become fast friends. Isn't shopping over the internet just the greatest? You don't get the touchy-feely sensation that you do in a fabric store, but, oh-my, the selection of fabrics is just wonderful. Whoever thought up these Charm Packs ....just a sampling of everything that is in a fabric line.....was a genius!

I had this really nice T-Fal iron and it died today (insert eulogy for a good iron) and I decided that I will no longer buy an expensive iron. I've had nothing but problems with Rowenta irons leaking all over the place and spitting rust flecks, so I went with the T-Fal one - which served me well for 18 months. I went to Target in search of the cheapest iron that I could find and low and behold -- I got this Westinghouse iron for $9.99 and I must say, it's not a bad little iron, either, although it does not have an automatic shut-off -- and maybe that's not a bad thing. Don't you get tired of having to jump up and turn it on, every time you're ready to press something? I do.

Use Me - Turn Me On

No, it's not the latest promo for Grey's Anatomy -- it's my Bernina calling to me. I have been in a slump after the Holidays and not wanting to sew. Well, not wanting to sew isn't really true - I've wanted to sew, but for some reason, I keep putting off what I really want to be doing. This isn't even procrastinating, I just can't find anything -- so much for having a tidy sewing room. When it's a mess I know exactly where everything is because it's in plain view.

In my haste to clear out the sewing room for my new Horn table, I did some major cleaning in the sewing room and it was easier to clean with everything out of the room. So just where did I put everything -- that's the answer that I'm still trying to find - Where is everything?? I guess I'm going to have to start rummaging through boxes to find whatever it is that I'm looking for and hopefully, something with spark my interest.

Finally, I found something. This little box contained a treasure trove of 9-patch and hour-glass blocks AND, I even remembered what it was that I had planned to make with them. So, I finally turned on 'Nina' and decided to start sewing them together. After a few hours, that stack of blocks is starting to take shape.

I went from a box of pinned together blocks to this.....in just a few hours.

Of course, Bailey, "the supervisor" has decided to walk across the "layout" numerous times - so it's in my best interest to keep on sewing blocks into rows and then sewing the rows together.

Back to Work Today

In retrospect, those 11 days off at Christmas seemed to have flown by, however, it felt good to be back at work and seeing all of my friends and hearing about all of their holiday stories.

I forgot to post yesterday what I decided to work on on New Year's. I decided not to start on a new project and I dug out my Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt that I started back in 2001. Yikes, that's over 5 years old.

Somehow I knew this would take a long time -- but 5 years.

Here's a photo of not long after I started working on it and Bailey was just a pup. I was so gung-ho to work on it then . I have always wanted a Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt and it was portable. I took it to work, doctor's appointments, soccer games.

Then I put it away because I just couldn't bear to look at another hexagon or 30's Repro print. But 5 years???

I only have one more row left to sew on and it seems like a monster now, even though it's only a twin size. But, my New Year's promise (notice I didn't say resolution) is to finish it. One more row and then I can start to add the border. I think I want to do a straight edge border, so that will mean cutting off the points all along the edge -- however, I'm still a little undecided about doing that. I also don't have enough of the white on white left to finish it and after 5 years, I know I won't be able to match it, so I need to keep digging and try to find something that will work. Maybe a triple border with pink, blue and white.

Any suggestions?

Happy New Year - 2007

I decided to get a head start on my New Year's resolution of not procrastinating and I spent New Year's Eve ironing fabric until the ball dropped - I really need to get a life.

Here is some of the new apron fabrics that I bought this week - laundered, ironed and just begging to be cut into.

I bought these dog prints just because ... no reason .. no real idea in mind, but it just screams make a dog quilt and Bailey could really use a new quilt.

This is just some holiday fabric that I got on sale and couldn't pass up - yes, I told you I'm weak when it comes to a sale.


I also love Civil war prints and these were on the $3.00 table at Hancock's and since I collect roosters, I just have to have an apron made out of this chicken fabric.

And finally, some neutrals. The peach color will be used for skin tone for Santa Clause on a project that I'm debating about starting now for next year. The pink on the bottom will probably be something for Kylie, since she just loves anything pink.

It feels good to have these fabrics all ready to cut into and I'm glad I didn't put off until tomorrow what I could do tonight.

My grandmother always said that whatever you do on New Year's Day is a sign of what you will do the rest of the year -- and I don't want to spend 2007 ironing. So the plan for tomorrow, um, I mean today is to sew, sew, sew.

Bailey and I wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year -- Welcome 2007!